


The Newest Recruit

by ohlawsons



Series: cat nua [2]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship, ft. a dog and eder's need to pet it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 22:36:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11746602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlawsons/pseuds/ohlawsons
Summary: Maerwald was a disappointment and the place is infested with spirits -- but then Neria rescues a dog, and Eder decides that Caed Nua might not be so bad, after all.





	The Newest Recruit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rannadylin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rannadylin/gifts).



> I got _so_ many good prompts from rannadylin for the fic swap, but this is the first one i've finished -- a prompt for any stories behind any of Neria's pets (there's a lot. she's the cat lady of caed nua. cat nua.) and if she has any pets we don't see in-game.

It was raining the next morning -- because  _ of course _ it was -- and that was the second thing that Eder noticed when he awoke. He was sore, and he was stiff, and sleeping on the rubble-covered floor of Caed Nua’s ruined inn didn't help, especially given the state he'd been in after the battle with Maerwald the day before; but, at least, he was dry and that was something of an improvement over the downpour outside.

The  _ first _ thing he'd noticed that morning, directly before taking note of the patter of rain on the wooden roof, had been the yelling that was coming from outside -- yells that sounded a lot like their Watcher, who was missing from the tired group huddled in the inn. She didn't sound hurt or panicked; there was a loud  _ whoop!  _ over the drumming rain, and Eder assumed that even if there  _ had _ been trouble, Neria had it well in hand. 

Still, he pulled himself to his feet and went to investigate, groaning a bit as he rolled his shoulders to loosen up. The front door of the inn opened with a drawn out creak, and Eder stepped just outside to stand under the small overhang on the inn’s roof, managing to stay mostly dry as he watched Neria.

As expected, she wasn't in any trouble; the Watcher was standing, soaked and barefoot, in the grass out in front of the inn and taking wild, reckless swings with a pike that was easily a foot taller than she was. There was a pattern to her maneuvers, and it seemed almost as if she were running through a set of well-practiced -- albeit erratic -- training drills. Neria’s usual weapons, a hefty war hammer with thin red leather wrappings around its haft and a simple hand axe, were resting against the side of a ruined fountain.

She perplexed him, their Watcher. She was one of the godlike, one touched by Berath, with a mask-like growth that veiled her eyes and a halo of shadow that framed her like a mane of curls; common superstition would label her a curse, an ill-omen, but Neria stood no taller than an orlan and had a wide grin that was more mischievous than malevolent. She was filled with a boundless energy, with a disdain for war but a love of the fight, and there was nothing anyone could say or do to change her mind once she'd made it.

So when he leaned up against the sagging door frame of the inn, watching Neria with a slow shake of his head, he didn't even bother trying to suggest that she should come back inside. At least, not directly.

“Might be more helpful to go after some of those leftover specters. I'm pretty sure that library’s still haunted.”

“Why do you say that?” Neria shot back, not missing a beat as she lunged forward with the pike. “Because something spooked Aloth last night? I'm pretty sure that's just Kana. I think he talks in his sleep.”

“Wouldn't surprise me.” He paused as a crack of lightning unfurled across the sky, followed by a delayed rumble of thunder. “Still, that dog of yours was making all sorts of noise while I was on watch last night. Took all the jerky in my pack to quiet her down.”

At that, Neria stilled, turning to Eder to give him a look he couldn't quite decipher; her lips scrunched into a thin, uneven line and the mask-like folds over her eyes drew together ever so slightly, almost like a brow furrowing. The halo of shadow surrounding her flickered and twisted in the rain, and she continued to stare at him with that odd look for another moment before she snickered, then fell into a complete bout of laughter, loud and unabashed as it rang out over the sounds of the storm.

“You--” Neria fell quiet, gasping for breath between her now-silent laughs; she drove the pike blade-first into the ground, leaning on it as she attempted to regain her composure. “You fed  _ all  _ of your jerky to Penelope last night?”

“Had to quiet her down somehow,” he offered with a shrug, not sure what exactly about the situation warranted quite so much laughter. It had only been three strips, and besides, Eder was more preoccupied with the name Neria had chosen for the stray they'd discovered hiding amongst the rubble of Caed Nua’s destroyed barracks. “You named her --  so that means we're keeping her?” 

“ _ Yeah _ , especially now that I know she's the smartest one of the bunch.”

As if on cue, Penelope -- a sturdy little dog, with short grey and white dappled fur and splashes of brown over her ears and face -- came padding out from wherever she’d been, off to Eder’s left, and ran straight into Neria, whining and giving her an affectionate headbut to the stomach. She sat back with an expectant look and whined again.

Neria planted her hands on her hips and stared down at Penelope, frowning. “No. I told you not to destroy the stick, and you destroyed the stick. It’s not my fault there’s nothing left for me to throw for you--” another whine, “--and I’m  _ not _ gonna go search in the rain and mud for another stick.”

Penelope pawed at Neria, leaving a smear of mud on her already-soaked pants, and let out a loud bark that cut through even the pounding rain. 

“You’re not gonna change her mind,” Eder warned, the words directed at Penelope though he suspected she was just as stubborn as their Watcher, and the sentiment could easily go both ways. He knelt down and beckoned to the dog, tongue out and ears perked as she continued to wait for Neria. “C’mere, girl. I’ll figure something out for you.”

Without hesitation, Penelope bounded towards Eder, launching herself at him and resting her paws on his shoulder as she began licking his face, leaving him covered in both mud and slobber. It wasn’t what he’d had in mind, exactly, when he’d called her over, but in hindsight maybe he should’ve expected it; Penelope had done the same to Neria the night before, when they’d first found her rummaging through some overturned barrels as they’d been making the rounds through Caed Nua after meeting Maerwald. Neria had emerged from the barracks carrying a dog nearly as large as herself, triumphantly announcing that there weren’t any more spirits to worry about.

Eder stood, carrying Penelope the way Neria had the night before, ignoring the fact that his shirt was now soaked and covered in mud. He glanced up at the sky -- it was hard to tell, with the thick cloud cover, but he was fairly certain it was early morning -- and leaned back a bit to look at Penelope. “Let’s get you dried off and find something to eat.”

She responded with an enthusiastic bark -- right in Eder’s ear.

“Don’t spoil my dog,” Neria called, twisting and prying the pike out of the mud and tucking it under one arm as she reached for her war hammer and hand axe.

“There’s nothing wrong with spoiling her just a  _ little  _ bit.”

“Don’t spoil her,” she repeated, pointing her war hammer at him and giving it a little shake. “I’m gonna train her. She’s gotta earn her keep.” She brushed past them and pushed the door to the inn open, dropping her weapons just inside and they clattered to the ground loudly enough that Kana, sleeping on a bedroll in the center of the inn, jerked away and bolted upright. “C’mon, Kana, you’re on breakfast duty since the rest of us can’t cook for shit. And maybe I’ll train her to be a guard dog -- y’know, so she can stay on watch and the rest of us can rest.” One corner of her lips twisted into a half-grin, and her voice lilted upwards as she teased, “Berath knows  _ you  _ need plenty of beauty sleep.”

“No more than the rest of us. Besides, she wouldn’t make a decent guard dog. She’s loud, maybe, but a girl like her is made to be off chasing livestock.”

“So we  _ are _ keeping her?” Kana asked through a yawn, reaching for where his cap sat on the ground beside him. “Not that there was much question,” he added with a wide grin, “but it’s  _ official _ ?”

Neria let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “I  _ guess _ , even if Eder insists that Penelope won’t ever be a good guard dog.”

At hearing her name -- or perhaps just because Eder’s attention was now divided -- Penelope wriggled and squirmed until Eder let her down, and she bounded back over to Neria, giving an excited little bounce. When the Watcher didn’t respond, she let out two quick barks; in the corner, Aloth curled into an even smaller ball on his bedroll.

“Go make yourself useful and wake Aloth up.” The wizard gave a grunt in protest, but Neria wasn’t deterred and pointed towards his bedroll; with another bounce, Penelope took off to the other side of the inn, searching the floor for whatever she thought Neria had thrown. She nosed along the edge of Aloth’s bedroll, sniffing at him, and when he tried to swat her away Neria fell into a fit of laughter. “We’re definitely keeping her.”

  
  



End file.
